“Something doesn’t stand up. A guy like Matlock who lives like a pig and dresses like a hobo, drives a nicer car than I do and has a $500 watch!” – Talmadge

Talk About a Stranger is a little known film-noir that was made on a fairly scant budget but still lost money due to it not performing very well at the box office. It was washed away and forgotten about over time but it was recently featured on TCM’s Noir Alley, which is where I saw it.

The story stars a young boy, Billy Gray, who plays Bud Fontaine. He meets a new neighbor, who he instantly dislikes and starts to blame for everything wrong that happens in the story. Eventually, Bud discovers his new dog is dead and it looks as if the animal was poisoned. He immediately blames the new neighbor, Matlock.

Bud gets more and more unhinged as the film rolls on. He wants to believe that Matlock is an evil man so badly that he acts out, becoming a little terror obsessed with exposing the quiet recluse that just wants to be left alone.

Eventually, we find out Matlock’s true story which is sad and heartbreaking. The boy realizes his folly and this at least ends with a happy ending for everyone. Matlock even gives the boy a puppy to help him heal and to show that he’s not angry with the little hellion.

Billy Gray was best known as another character named Bud on the hit TV show Father Knows Best. He was also in the classic sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still. He was the son of actress Beatrice Gray, who would bring Billy to set with her a lot. Billy then got into acting at a very young age.

His performance here is quite good. He gets annoying but it’s the role he’s playing and not his actual performance.

The story is pretty good and it almost had a bit of The ‘Burbs feel to it. Granted, it’s not a comedy and the neighbor doesn’t end up being the bad guy but it deals with similar issues in how it delves into paranoia surrounding a new and mysterious neighbor.

This isn’t a memorable film but it was still entertaining and it flew by rather quickly at just 65 minutes.

Sadly, there isn’t a trailer online that I can link below per usual.

Rating: 6.75/10Pairs well with: another film-noir staring a young kid, The Window.